Change of Leadership Baton in ECWA
…Madubuko Sworn in as Vice President, Omidiji as Trustee
Our Correspondent
Newly elected ECWA Vice President, Rev. Dr Chidi Joseph Madubuko, has been installed into office.
Similarly, Rev. Dr Ezekiel Omidiji, who was elected as a trustee representing zone 9, has also been installed into the ECWA Board of Trustees.
The duo of Rev Chidi Joseph Madubuko and Rev. Dr Ezekiel Omidiji were elected during the 73rd General Church Council meeting. This meeting took place in May this year.
In his inaugural address, Rev. Madubuko said his installation was not merely a ceremony or simply the assumption of office but a “sacred moment of divine trust and acceptance of stewardship before God, His church, and generations yet unborn.”
According to him, it marks the beginning of a new responsibility in his life and ministry, and he pledged to serve faithfully.
He said, “By the grace of God, I pledge to serve faithfully as Vice President of ECWA. I will work loyally and prayerfully with the President, the Executive, the Trustees and the General Church Council, and all organs of ECWA to promote unity, peace, discipline, spiritual renewal, institutional growth, and Kingdom advancement.”
While soliciting prayers and cooperation, the new Vice President acknowledged that no leader can succeed without the people’s prayers and support.
“Pray that God will grant us wisdom beyond our experience, humility beyond our titles, courage beyond our fears, and strength beyond our human capacity.
“Pray that we will not fail God. Pray that we will not betray the trust of the Church. Pray that our decisions will be guided by Scripture, our motives purified by the Spirit, and our service accepted before God,” he stressed.
Delivering a sermon, COCIN Vice President-elect, Rev. Associate Professor Benjamin, whose sermon centred on the topic “Christian Ministry: Starting well and finishing well,” stated that starting and finishing are two ends of a journey.
According to him, the Christian faith requires thorough conversion, absolute surrender and progressive submission to God from beginning to the end; this is no less true of leaders in the church.
Drawing lessons from 1 Corinthians 9:19-27, the cleric stated that the church, as a gathering of believers in Christ, is “perfectly purchased” by Jesus Christ with his precious blood, and that He became the Head of the Body of Christ.
He posited that Christ purchased the church and He purchased believers by “disappearing.”
The cleric said, “Therefore, to disappear means to willingly accept to take the second place behind the scene, to let-go of one’s achieved status, to relinquish, to give up something precious for the welfare and good of others!
“This is the perfect way of Christ, which is the way of the cross, which believers are required to carry and follow Jesus Christ.
“So, a disappearing attitude will reduce competition and comparison, and promote cooperation and collaboration among us!
“Jesus Christ disappeared in his ministry lifestyle and endured until his exaltation at the end of his ministry.”
He cautioned Christians, especially leaders, not to forget the cost of leadership, as, according to him, sometimes the euphoria of leadership makes leaders forget the cost thereof.
Rev. Pokol stated that leadership among God’s people requires the leader to “join Jesus Christ in the wilderness of temptation to equip us for public and cross-border or cultural mission.
On what is required from leaders, particularly among God’s people, he said, “It requires us to join Jesus Christ in a daylight discussion with the Samaritan Woman at the well to include others in the Commonwealth of Jesus Christ by drawing them out of their heaps of moral failures.
“It will require us to be Good Shepherds and to journey from the congregation of the elder brother into the congregation of the Prodigal Son and the father, where sinners realise their sinfulness, return in confession, and are forgiven and welcomed back home.
“It requires us to be humble enough to experience mission-in-reverse like Peter, a Jew in a Gentile Cornelius’ household.
“It requires us to create mission-enabling structures in our churches to turn the church inside-out, from maintenance to mission-oriented, because it appears our churches have gone too executive to be the missionary.
“All these require that church leaders be consistent in following Jesus to experience progressive conversion from the prevailing over-familiarity to rediscovery of the transforming power of the Word of God.
“It will require us to continually journey from our comfort zones into the margins of society where Jesus Christ focused his mission.”
The cleric decried a situation where some ministers of the gospel begin ministry by condemning others and finish ministry by condemning others without doing anything about their own.
“Paul focused on beating his body to make it his slave in order not to be disqualified for the prize at the end!
“My dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord supply all that we need at the points of our needs; the Christian journey must start well and finish well.”
In his farewell address, outgoing ECWA Vice President, Rev. (Dr) Stephen Ajise said, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1.
“Today is indeed a significant moment in my life and ministry. It is a moment of gratitude, reflection, thanksgiving, and renewed hope for the future of our great Church denomination, ECWA.”
He expressed gratitude for the gift of salvation and God’s faithfulness throughout his journey in ministry, stating that he could not thank God enough for the “rare privilege to labour in His vineyard” and to serve as the Vice President of ECWA for six “memorable years.”
Recalling when he was sworn into office in August 2020, Rev. Ajise said, “On the 22nd of August, 2020 — the difficult season of the COVID-19 pandemic — when my installation as ECWA Vice President took place, I quoted Ecclesiastes 7:8, which says, ‘The end of a thing is better than its beginning.” Today, standing before you at the completion of this assignment, I can boldly testify that God has indeed been faithful from the beginning to the end.”
Reflecting on God’s Faithfulness in his six years in office, Rev. Ajise said his heart is filled with gratitude for what God enabled him and other executives to achieve during his tenure, despite challenges and differing opinions that naturally arise in leadership, but God helped them to work together with mutual respect, love, and commitment to the vision of the Church.
Highlighting some of the achievements recorded during his time in office, the outgoing Vice President stated that they are testimonies of God’s faithfulness and the collective commitment of ECWA members and leadership toward kingdom advancement.
He made specific reference to the ECWA 7-Year Long Range Strategic Plan, one of the major milestones recorded, stating, “This roadmap was prayerfully developed to guide our denomination toward purposeful growth, accountability, mission effectiveness, discipleship, and sustainable development.”
On what he tagged “Preserving the ECWA Heritage,” Rev. Ajise paid tributes to the founding fathers for their dedication, humility, missionary passion, and commitment to biblical truth that laid the strong foundation upon which ECWA stands today.
To his successor, the new trustee and the Church, the cleric enjoined them to remain steadfast, prayerful, courageous, and fully dependent on God, as according to him, leadership in God’s vineyard is demanding, but His grace is always sufficient.
“ECWA Executive is meant to be and seen as one indivisible entity. Do key into this unity of godly purpose.
“To Trustee Omidji, ECWA Board of Trustees will be enriched with your contributions as you all continue to serve as fathers of ECWA, maintaining the needed appropriate balance in our great church denomination.
“To the entire ECWA family, I appeal that we continue to support our leaders in prayers, cooperation, and unity. Let us avoid division, unhealthy competition, and bitterness. The Church belongs to Christ, and our collective responsibility is to ensure that His name is glorified in all we do. The challenges before the Church today are many, but greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.
“Let us continue to build bridges of peace, strengthen our evangelistic mandate, invest in younger generations, uphold biblical truth, and remain faithful stewards of the vision handed over to us. The church cannot diminish in the presence of targeted assaults against her. She must remain resolute and stand immovable on her God-given mandate to present Jesus Christ to the dying world.
“As I take a bow from this office today, I do so with gratitude to God and appreciation to His people. I leave this position fulfilled, thankful, and hopeful for a greater ECWA in the years ahead,” he stressed.
The high point of the event was the administering of the oath of allegiance to the new Vice President and the trustee by the ECWA President, Rev. Dr Job Ayuba Bagat.
The installation ceremony featured special song ministrations from ECWA Abakaliki Choir, First ECWA Yoruba Church, Vanderpuye, Jos and the Evangel Arts. The prayer of consecration was also offered. There was a presentation of gifts to the outgoing Vice Presidents.
There were goodwill messages from the ECWA Board of Trustees, among others.
The occasion was attended by prominent ECWA sons and daughters, traditional rulers, government functionaries, including members of both state and national assemblies.
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